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The Minister for Finance said he was not "daft enough" to list difficulties that arose in Government in the past six years because of the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr McCreevy also said there was a "lot of hypocrisy" about the FoI Act. "I can tolerate almost anything in life, but hypocrisy I despise and it seems to be endemic among politicians," he said. He had been at meetings where TDs and senators had asked if the discussion was subject to FoI and adjusted their remarks accordingly.